About the Centre for Machine Vision

Centre for Machine Vision is part of Bristol Robotics Laboratory, a centre of excellence in the Department of Engineering, Design and Mathematics at UWE Bristol.

We were established in 1999 and have developed rapidly in terms of size, experience, and reputation.

Our research

We are recognised as one of only three UK centres with expertise in Photometric Stereo (PS). We have pioneered PS in industry, medicine and defence/security.

Our laboratory supports REF (Research Excellence Framework) level research activities and research-led teaching in machine vision.

We have developed expertise in the application of general three-dimensional techniques for computer vision, all of which offer significant advantages over existing two-dimensional methods. These special advantages can be of vital importance where surface reflectance and/or shape data are central to the application.

Another distinctive feature of our laboratory is our emphasis on both hardware design and algorithm development. On many projects, we collaborated with industrial partners to develop working prototypes.

Objectives

Our objective is to be an internationally recognised centre of excellence in fundamental and applied research. We will achieve this by:

• Undertaking original, cutting edge research
• Winning research and consultancy contracts from both commercial and publicly funded bodies worldwide
• Demonstrating excellence in research through international publication
• Networking with other such centres both in UK and abroad.

Collaborations

We have a network of collaborative academic and industrial international partnerships throughout the UK, Europe and the USA:

• EUREKA
• IET (The Institute of Engineering and Technology)
• EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)
• Medical Research Council
• CORDIS (Community Research and Development Information Service) - Seventh Framework Programme
• Ministry of Defence
• UKIVA (UK Industrial Vision Association)
• Innovate UK
• NIHR (National Institute for Health Research)

We are actively engaged in bid preparation, particularly in evolving medical and security areas, for new opportunities in 3D imaging to improve diagnostics and human behaviour analysis.